Maradona blasts FIFA

LONDON – Former Argentina captain Diego Maradona says longtime FIFA president Sepp Blatter and European soccer chief Michel Platini should have been given life imprisonment rather than six-year bans from soccer for ethics violations.

The pair were suspended for eight years — reduced to six this week — for a payment of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.03 million) made to the Frenchman in 2011 by FIFA with Blatter’s approval for work done a decade earlier.

“Having so much evidence against these people and having seen how they were robbing for so many years, they should have given both life imprisonment.”

FIFA is caught in the worst crisis in its 112-year history with scores of people, including many former FIFA officials, charged with corruption-related offenses in the U.S. Blatter is among those who also face a parallel Swiss investigation.

Maradona believes Blatter’s replacement at FIFA should not be motivated by money.

“I would like to see a president who is not interested in becoming a millionaire thanks to the ball, the sponsors or the World Cup — because that is where they collect a good load of money,” he said.